Monthly Archives: June 2013

I KISSED A GHOUL or LOST GIRL OF THE LAKE (with Joe McKinney) didn’t win any Bram Stoker Awards. But thanks for all the support, I really do appreciate it. I write my books not to win awards, but to warm the hearts of my readers and my fans. And this is truly heartwarming the support I received from you all. Tonight I am a winner because of you. Thank you, thank you and thank you!!!!

Interview with the Author of a Vampire Book about a Vampire Author Who Also Writes Vampire Books:
Or, Conversation with Vampire Writer Michael McCarty

Conducted by Mark McLaughlin

1. Mark: How are you this evening, Mike?

Mike: Fine, thanks! Is that one of the twenty-five questions you’re going to ask me?

(Vampire Mike)

(Vampire Mark)

2. Mark: It sure is. Very astute of you to notice. I see you’ve written a sequel to your vampire satire, Liquid Diet. It is a sequel … not a prequel or an unrelated adventure in the same fictional universe … right?

Mike: Yes, it’s an honest-to-goodness … or maybe I should say, honest-to-badness, since it’s about vampires … sequel. It continues the storyline that started with Liquid Diet.

3. Mark: Do folks have to read Liquid Diet before reading Midnight Snack?

Mike: Nope! The way I wrote Midnight Snack, I was assuming the reader hadn’t read Liquid Diet yet. So if you hadn’t read the first book, the second one will still make sense. Now if the reader wants to go back and read Liquid Diet after reading Midnight Snack, that’s fine with me!

4. Mark: Did you plan on a sequel while you were writing Liquid Diet?

Mike: No, it was just going to be a one-shot deal.

5. Mark: So why did you decide to write a sequel?

Mike: Fans kept asking if a sequel was in the works. So I decided to write one for them. This is my first sequel and I have to admit, it was a lot of fun to write.

6. Mark: For those who haven’t read Liquid Diet yet, what’s the book about?

Mike: Liquid Diet is the story of Andrew Bloodsworth, a vampire author who happens to be a vampire, too. He is being interviewed on radio station WOLF 99.9 FM in Chicago by the beautiful Goth hostess, Bella Donna. But, listening to the program are members of OTTO (Opposition To The Occult) – a zealous religious organization that hates vampires. Also listening is The Amazing Kreskin, who gets a premonition of immediate disaster. And if all that weren’t enough, sleazy TV talk-show host Harry Winger is also tuned in, and he wants the vampire on his show. What happens next? For that, you’ll have to buy the book (laughs).

7. Mark: Was Bella Donna inspired by Bella from the Twilight series?

Mike: Not at all. I started writing about Bella Donna and Andrew Bloodsworth back in 1989.

12. Mark: Would you care to talk about some of the major characters in the book?

Mike: Sure.

13. Mark: What can you tell us about Andrew Bloodsworth?

Mike: Like I said, Andrew Bloodsworth is a vampire writer. At the beginning of Liquid Diet, he’s the author of two vampire novels, The Count and Liquid Diet, and one nonfiction book called The Vampire Files. He eventually meets the beautiful vampire Ebony Sparks, who turns him into a bloodsucker.

14. Mark: Have any inside information for us on the heroine, the lovely Bella Donna? I would suppose so, since you’re the author….

Mike: Bella is a Goth radio host – a veteran interviewer who has interviewed many different kinds of celebrities and eccentrics, and eccentric celebrities, on her show. Her chemistry with Andrew makes the interview a little steamy – maybe I should have called the book, Steamy Interview with the Vampire (laughs).

15. Mark: Nah, sounds too much like an Anne Rice title – then you’d have had some steamed Rice! Can you tell us a bit more about one of my favorite characters, The Count?

Mike: The Count is a lot of fun. He’s a punk vampire from England, a very colorful character indeed.

(Liquid Diet cover, KHP / Demonic Clown Books 2009)

16. Mark: Can you divulge a bit more about Harry Winger?

Mike: Harry is the host of the tabloid-TV program, “The Harry Winger Show.” It’s the type of show that starts out as an interview, but people always end up in a brawl.

17. Mark: And what about that maddest and baddest of bad guys, The Evil One…?

18. Mark: Liquid Diet is subtitled, A Vampire Satire. Is it a satire of Interview with the Vampire?

Mike: Yes, but Liquid Diet is also a tribute to Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, as well as The Tale of the Body Thief – along with a heck of a lot of other vampire books and movies. I love all vampire tales, really – so much, I finally had to write some.

19. Mark: That makes sense. Vampirism is contagious! Is there a sequel in the works for Midnight Snack?

Mike: If the fans and my publisher want one … maybe! C. Dean Andersson said this is the middle book of a trilogy, but we’ll have to see.

20. Mark: Thank you for an entertaining and informative interview, Mike. Is there anything else you’d like to add to what you’ve told us already?

Mike: I’d like to thank all my great readers for their input and support. Please check out ordering information for Liquid Diet and Midnight Snack at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Whiskey Creek Press. Also anyone reading this will seek me out on Facebook and become my friend or fan – or both, I’m easy that way. I wish you all … pleasant dreams and nightmares.

21. Mark: Can we talk about your other vampire books?
Mike: Sure. Let’s start out with Bloodless. Bloodless is a vampire ebook by Michael McCarty & Jody LaGreca, also published by Whiskey Creek Press. Daniel Peck is a modern-day vampire, over one hundred years old. He succumbs to his transformation on the Lusitania when the beautiful and ancient Veronica, Queen of the Undead, beguiles him. Daniel survives the sinking of the Lusitania, and another disaster when the Hindenburg explodes.
Years later Daniel is a middle school substitute teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. He feeds off the energy of four students and turns them into zombie-like creatures who subsist on human remains. Daniel kills people for his thralls to devour, but the students prove difficult to control.
Meanwhile Daniel encounters and is charmed by Annie Julliard, a lovely motel proprietor, and changes her into a white vampire. They marry and Daniel brings home the four thralls as his adopted children. From then on, things become very complicated.

22. Mark: Sounds interesting. What about the sequel, Bloodlust?
Mike: Bloodlust is a vampire ebook by Michael McCarty & Jody LaGreca and also published by Whiskey Creek Press. Psychic vampire, Daniel Peck, lives on with vengeance and movie star madness in this sequel to Bloodless. Witness the illicit saga which leads to Marilyn Monroe’s untimely demise and more in this twisted tale of glamour and seduction. Beware of kisses in the dark and the echo of eternity — which bears the curse of Daniel. Uncover the mystery of The Stardust Inn and the love triangle between Daniel, hotel proprietor, Annie Julliard, and her sister Vicki — while the Omni powerful Veronica, who has Daniel beneath her spell, has her own agenda. Meanwhile,
FBI agent, Ronald Barrett, has been chasing Daniel down for over three decades for slaughtering his mother. Not your cookie cutter vampire tale, Bloodlust is infused with horror, history and romantic suspense. It will illuminate your senses and take you to uncharted worlds beyond the imagination.

There is a third book in the Bloodless trilogy. Bloodless, Bloodlust and Bloodline.

22. Mark: Can to share your blurbs for Bloodless and Bloodlust? Mike: Sure, here they are:

“I found it a diabolical touch that Michael McCarty and Co-author Jody LaGreca in their new book Bloodlust introduced legendary Marilyn Monroe into the tapestry of their horror novel. From the moment Monroe enters the early scenes of this strangely compelling novel to the final seconds when we find ourselves following the quiet movements of a black cat named Midnight. I predict you will be unable to put down Bloodlust. That’s right, until you see it through to its very end. In a strange and mysterious way I have found my appetite increasing for their brilliant entree into vampires.” — The Amazing Kreskin, Worlds Foremost Mentalist

“Michael McCarty and Jody LaGreca are masters at blending the macabre with the ordinary, the monster with the everyman with their vampire novel Bloodless. They can make a horrific killer seem quite affable, a dinner of barbecued human parts palatable, and a slit throat in lovemaking exquisitely erotic. McCarty and LaGreca write with inexplicably gruesome charm evident in Bloodless.” – Patricia J. Espoito, author of the vampire novel Beside The Darker Shore

“Authors Michael McCarty and Jody R. LaGreca have created a lovable roque in their character Daniel Peck, whose life is just about perfect until his former lover, Veronica shows up. Bloodless is a well written, fun read for horror and vampire fans everywhere.” – Joan Mauch, author of Halifax

24. Mark: Do you have any other vampire books?
Mike: There are a lot of vampires in I Kissed A Ghoul. And my short story collections as well. And let’s not forget about Return of the Scream Queen: Embrace of the Aztec Vampire by Michael McCarty, Linnea Quigley and Stan Swanson.

25. Mark: Do you want talk about the Dracula novella we just finished?
Mike: I’d love to, but we are still shopping it around. Stay tune, it should find a home soon.